You may use the "Buy Now" or "Donate" buttons on the right to place your donations for Celeste. You will receive the great satisfaction of helping our family and most importantly Celeste. Thank you for your time and have a blessed day!

Donate to Celeste

to raise funds for wheelchair van, handicap accessible bathroom, etc

Hello! I am Celeste. I am 13 years old. I have microcephaly (which means my head is smaller than average) and cerebral palsy plus a few others. These diagnoses’ leave me unable to walk, talk, sit up on my own, roll over, use the bathroom, shower…you name it, I really can’t do it on my own. My mom is writing this up for me as I am unable to do it myself. I rely completely on my mom and dad for everything. They change my diaper, they feed me, they love on me, they bathe me, they move me from position to position and much more. They do the best that they can. Although I am unable to speak, I am able to communicate with my facial expressions and the noises that I make.

Some of the things that I really enjoy are strolling through the park. I like to watch others play and observe their interactions (it is very entertaining for me). My favorite thing to do is go swimming. I absolutely love swimming! It gives me the freedom to move around a lot and it is so much fun! My second favorite thing to do is to run around in my gait trainer. It also gives me a certain amount of freedom. It's similar to a baby walker except it's made for bigger kids and adults that need lots of support in order to stand upright. It supports my whole body so that I can use my legs to get around. I love running into walls and especially people. :-) I find it very funny! I really just enjoy getting out of the house and just going wherever. It doesn’t matter where we go; I just like to get out.

The problem that my family is having is that I am currently at 65 lbs. It feels like dead weight because I cannot help by holding on. I am too large for the car seat that I am currently using and my parents have a really hard time lifting me into and out of the car as it is, because of my weight and the way they have to move their bodies to get me in and out. We do not get to go out and do things as much as I would like because of the difficulty that my parents have with this, as well as the fact that I do not have proper seating. Ultimately, a wheelchair accessible van would be life-changing for me. My parents would no longer have to do the awkward lifting. I could be wheeled into the van in my wheelchair and be able to travel safely. The best part for me would be that I would get to go to lots more places because of how much easier it would be for me to travel.

Here is the issue…my parents have began to budget for the purchase of an acceptable van which will cost around $18,000. However, the cost of the wheelchair conversion for a van is between $15,000 and $16,000. The total costs would be over $30,000. That is unfortunately too much for my parents to afford. My parents would like to raise money to cover ONLY the cost of the wheelchair conversion. If we could raise the money for the conversion, I would be forever grateful and so would my parents. I just want to be able to get out, hang out and have fun traveling and hanging with my friends as well as travel safely. With the wheelchair conversion, my parents will strain their backs less and therefore will be able to take care of me even better than they already do. I worry about hurting them. Please, please, please help me. Even if you are unable to donate at this time, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my story. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Just copy and paste to your browser. Thank you for your time and have a blessed day!

UPDATE!!!

UPDATE!!!

UPDATE!!!

UPDATE!!!

UPDATE!!!

UPDATE!!!

UPDATE!!!

UPDATE!!!

It's been a very long time since we've had any updates. We had CelesteFest back in late 2010 which was a great success, however due to how demanding putting all of that together while raising a very active child as well as a severely disabled child, proved quite difficult. We have been unable to organize any more fundraising events.

As of April 2013, our focus has shifted (temporarily) from saving for a wheelchair van (due to the high cost) to more attainable goals like a bathroom remodel to accommodate Celeste. Our bathroom has a tub and we currently must lift Celeste's bath chair in and out of the tub then carry Celeste from her bedroom to the bathroom and place her in the bath chair. When she is wet, lifting her out of the bath chair is a safety issue. We would like to get the materials to extend her bath chair to a height that is less strenuous on the back. It is currently around knee height. We would like to be able to bathe her in a standing position rather than crouched over. We would also like to add wheels so that she can be placed in the bath chair in her room and wheeled into the bathroom. The bathroom itself will need a complete remodel. We need to take the tub out and make a walk in shower. We need to expand the doorway so that she can better fit through in her bath chair. We'll also need some sort of half doors for the walk in shower that completely open for wheeling Celeste in but also close once she's in to protect us (the caregivers) from getting wet while bathing her. If you have any suggestions or would like to contribute, you can contact us through the info above and/or donate using the buttons at the very top.

FUNDRAISER ALERT! A friend is holding a Family Fun Day in Port St. Lucie, FL in order to raise funds for Celeste on April 6, 2013 from 1-6pm. The Facebook event page where you can get more info is at

https://www.facebook.com/events/409713839126009/. Please come out and join us! Thank you all for your love and continued support! :-)